Barrymore Laurence Scherer
The group’s youth and freshness belie the age of its home base. Founded in 1395, Sretensky is among the most ancient of Russian monasteries – the original wooden buildings were already nearly 300 years old when they were replaced by the present stone ones in the 17th century. During the Bolshevik era, Sretensky’s monastic community was arrested and either murdered or exiled to prison camps. At a time when many Russian churches were being used as skating rinks or swimming pools, Sretensky’s buildings – in the middle of downtown Moscow – were employed by the KGB as offices and torture chambers.
Fred Kirshnit
On the occasion of the reunification of the Orthodox Church within Russia to the greater Russian Orthodox Church, the 41-member choir is touring the world, singing primarily in sacred spaces but also taking some time out for public concerts. On Tuesday evening at Avery Fisher Hall, there was no room left for procrastinators, and the management had to provide seats on the stage to accommodate the overflow crowd.
Steve Smith
The 41 singers, however young they appeared, had clearly mastered the dense, nasal tone and luminous blend characteristic of Russian choral tradition. “God Is With Us,” ascribed to a Father Vasiliev, established a bold, assertive tone in lines of surprising rhythmic bounce. “Stichera on the Dormition of Theotokos,” an anonymous chant, demonstrated the severe 17th-century Znamenny style that predated an incursion of Western musical values.
Hieromonk Damascene (Christensen)
Rating: 6|Votes: 2
In discussing what it means to bear witness to our Faith, we should emphasize that, in all situations, we must act and speak with love. Christ told His disciples: By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another (John 13:35). We have the fullness of Truth, yes, but this Truth must be spoken and given in love, lest it be corrupted in the very manner in which it is presented. People will look for God in us, and if they see no love there, they will not recognize the presence of God, even if we know all the Orthodox dogmas and can recite Scripture verses and the Nicene Creed by heart.
Rating: 7|Votes: 3
We are obligated to pray for baptized people, for they received the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit at baptism. We cannot pass judgment on these people before God’s judgment, and only the Lord sees the inner man. How did they live, what made them tick, whose prayers upheld them in this life?